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Considering the variety of shells found, all thought the outing a great success and it was enjoyed by all who attended.
In a letter from Don Hiatt several weeks ago he reported as follows:
"We do have some finds here on Guam but not nearly so many as in the days gone by. Seems to me there are too many people here just for a year or two who are not interested in conservation.
"Dick Moore, our local Club president, found Cypraea lutea humphreysi and Micromelo guamensis on the reef in the Asan Area.
"Mary Leonard found Epitonium magnifica on the reef at Nimitz Beach. Mrs. Floyd Miller (Rica) found Micromelo guamensis on the reef at Nimitz Beach. In fact it was Mrs. Miller who uncovered the Epitonium magnifica but she did not see it.
"During a minus five foot tide, Ken Rhein and Mr. and Mrs. Don Hiatt had good luck night at the Asan area. Among the finds were Cypraea cribraria, C. punctata, C. teres, and C. fimbriata; Procalpernus lacteus; and Trivia oryza while walking the beach looking for shells. These were 'collected' out Sunset Beach way.
"Ken Pier, David McKay and Delmar and Joyce Stone went on a sailing trip to the Western Caroline Islands of Ulithi, Yap, Gnulu, Kayangel, and Koror. Their finds on the collecting trip included Conus negro punctatus, C. vexillum, C. capitaneus, C. episcopus, C. tigrinus, and C. marmoreus; Cypraea teres, C. clandestina, C. erosa, C. arabica, and C. kieneri."
I certainly did enjoy the Cypraea teulèrei article by E. R. Cross in the September issue of your Philippine Shells News, and as one of those who "have showed up and do collect" in this area it was a frustrating experience. For two years and a half my husband and I have spent our week-ends shelling in the Red Sea; on reefs, in shallow bays, under rocks, in weeds, deep water and shallow, the year around and not even a dead Cypraea teulèrei! We have bought shells from the local fishermen, both in Port Sudan and up and down the coast here. We have never seen a C. teulèrei. We have some seventeen species of Cypraea in this area. Twelve species that you are almost sure to find and four or five that are not common. I have yet to find a Cypraea exusta Sowerby, a Red Sea species of Cypraea talpa Linné. I know of four that have been given people by local Arabs or that they have found dead. We seldom find Cypraea pulchra Gray. I only have one. I don't suppose we have found more than a dozen Cypraea erythaeenis Sowerby. But now Mr. Cross has upset the apple cart. No one has a C. teulèrei or has even seen one. Your remarkable map (from the Gemini Space craft) shows C. teulèrei across from us, north of us, south of us and in the Persian Gulf. One of our group has even been on Museera (Al Masirah) Island. Mr. Cross is right, this IS a rare shell.
Thanks for sending the copy to us, as you can imagine it created a small sensation.
Sincerely,
(s) Mora Williams Box 1604
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Heishe pokalet Not long after this, I happened to be hanging up some wet bathing suits and noticed a mongoose prowling around our shells. Mongoose don't attract much attention in Kona because they are everywhere. When it saw me it quickly disappeared into a dense, dark thicket of Bougainvillea [Nactaginaceae] near the house. I immediately became suspicious of the animal's intentions, and I watched for a moment, but he didn't come out of the bushes. Peering through the thorny branches, I suddenly saw what looked like a pile of bones..., coral..., and SHELLS. I yelled to my friend to come and see. It was so... the mongoose had carried her beautiful C. mauritiana into its lair... plus many other shells from some other less fortunate people. As we poked each specimen out from under the bush, we agreed that this was one of the most exciting and unique ways to find shells... in a mongoose lair. Fellow member, Mrs. Dorothy Wendt knows... they were her shells.
Last year, in either June or July, Beth Martin picked up a small cowry shell in a tide pool on Makua Reef. The shell was passed around from collector to collector in an effort to find out just what the little stranger was. Ed deVaul finally sent the shell to Sean Raynon Sabado Editor E. R. Cross who took it to Pat Burgess. In Pat's own handwriting the moment of shell truth arrived, "Cypraea staphylaea Linn., without question." This is probably a range extension for this shell as I have not heard of it being found in Philippines before. The shell may be fossil. Congratulations, Beth.
Conus bullatus has shown up again. This time Bill Harfort collected a very recently dead specimen just off the telephone cable near the One Hundred Foot Hole off Waikiki in about 80 feet of water. A few days after this find was reported to me, I had a follow-up report that stated the C. bullatus is now in the collection of Tom Richert and Tom's cabinet has several fewer rare shells that made up the swap. I don't blame Tom because this was truly a beautiful shell.
Junior shellers were active in the past weeks. Scott Cabral found four large Conus vexillum onshore at Aina Haina. Apparently the shells were collected by a diver who was not a collector. Once on shore they were no longer a "pretty bauble" and were thrown on the ground to die. What would have been a waste of natural resource, and of beauty, became a prize in Scott's collection. Near the same area, out Koko Head way, Scott also collected, alive this time, a Cypraea leviathan, a 2-1/2" shell in 2-1/2" of water. Nice collecting.
Another youngster, eight year old Jonathon MacArthur, grandson of Corresponding Secretary Mique Pinkerton, found a recently dead Cypraea semiplota at Ewa Beach. So fresh was this shell that it still retained all of its color - and its smell. I wonder what Jonathon got from Pinky when this went into Pinky's collection?
Veteran, and inveterate, collector Joe Reid failed to find a shell worth collecting while tearing up the ocean bottom off Diamond Head. But an inquisitive Kahala (amberjack) stopped too long to watch Joe at work and ended up on the end of Joe's spear to become 35 pounds of sashimi.
Recently Azuma & Kurohara have established a new sea shell genus, Nesiocypraea, with the new species midwayensis two specimens of which have been collected from a depth of 460 meters off Midway Island (1967, Venus 26(1)p.1, 1 plt., 1 textfig.).
The radula of Nesiocypraea midwayensis differs from all known sea shells by the inverted trapezoid outline of the median tooth (a character observed else in Ovulidae only) which "has a single minute process on the inner surface" of the concave hind margin; the inner marginal tooth shows a "needle-like process" on the hind margin (see the figure).
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